


You Need to Go

by llostt_in_ttranslationn



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-31
Updated: 2017-08-31
Packaged: 2018-12-22 05:26:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11960634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/llostt_in_ttranslationn/pseuds/llostt_in_ttranslationn
Summary: All secrets have to come out at some point, don't they? Sometimes it happens when your roommate walks in on you when you're making out with your secret girlfriend, as Mal finds out.*Based on a prompt*





	You Need to Go

**Author's Note:**

> I told someone who commented on one of my other stories a couple months ago that I would write a story based on a prompt they gave, me, so here it is! It turned out a little longer so I gave it it's own place, instead of as part of my collection. I didn't feel like editing, but maybe I will later. Ayways, enjoy!

Mal decided early on that today would be a good day. It’s two days into national team camp for the friendlies against Canada, and she’s having a great time despite the previous day’s fitness testing that most of the team seems to dread. Today, they have the afternoon free after recovery and light training in the morning, and Mal knows exactly what she’s going to be spending her day doing.

Or rather, who.

She hasn’t quite told the team yet, but for the past several months she’s been secretly dating Canada’s own Jessie Fleming.

It’s nice that they were both called up, because it means that they get to spend their coinciding day off together, after spending most of the year apart, with Jessie at UCLA and Mal with the Spirit in DC.

Luckily, Mal’s roommate for this camp is Christen, and the older woman happens to be spending her day off with her own girlfriend, somewhere exploring the city, probably. It’s easy for Mal to sneak Jessie through the lobby and up to her hotel room. Easier than she thought it would be, actually.

“I missed you a lot,” Jessie tells her when they finally make it to Mal’s room.

“I missed you too,” Mal agrees. She never thought she’d be able to manage a long distance relationship, but Jessie is worth the extra effort. “Sometimes I think I should have just stayed with you at school,” she admits quietly.

“No,” Jessie shakes her head, squeezing Mal’s hand. “School wasn’t for you. I don’t want you to think I resent you for leaving. And you had an amazing season, regardless of your team’s ranking.”

Mal just shrugs, her mind swirling with the thoughts of all the things she wants to say. Instead, she just wraps her arms around Jessie’s neck and pulls the other girl into a tight embrace. “You always know exactly what to say to me,” she mumbles into Jessie’s neck.

Jessie pulls back from their embrace just slightly so she can place a soft kiss on Mal’s lips, before sending her a grin that’s equally as gentle.

“God, you’re so adorable,” Mal breathes, barely registering that she had spoken her thoughts aloud until Jessie’s face reddens with a dark blush.

“I really like you,” Jessie responds. “A lot.”

“Like, a _whole_ lot?” Mal teases. “How much?” she asks.

“Can I show you how much?” Jessie’s tone is confident, but Mal can feel the slight tremble in her as she speaks.

“Yeah,” Mal nods, suddenly breathless. “I think I would like that.”

Jessie grins, and disconnects them, only to reach out and grab Mal’s hand and lead her to the bed she assumes is her girlfriend’s (it’s much messier than the other, and Jessie doesn’t know who Mal’s roommate is, but she does know how disorganized the other girl is, so she makes an educated guess).

It takes everything in Mal not to complain when Jessie gently pushes her down onto the bed, giving her a moment to scoot further up before climbing on as well and settling herself on top of Mal, straddling her thighs. But Jessie being dominant is not something she sees often off the field, so she bites her tongue and ignores her urge to flip their positions.

Mal can see Jessie’s confidence draining as the seconds go by, because the other girl’s eyes keep widening. Mal reaches out and grabs Jessie’s still trembling hands, guiding them to her shoulders. She then places her own hands on Jessie’s waist.

“Jess,” Mal says softly, dragging Jessie’s focus back to her. “Now’s when you kiss me.”

Jessie nods slowly, before leaning down and pressing her lips against Mal’s tentatively.

It’s not like they’ve never kissed before, in fact, there are a few instances where they nearly went beyond just kissing on the couch in Jessie’s dorm room, but they’d always avoided kissing in beds, because that may have tempted them too much for how early in their relationship they had been.

 Mal responds, applying a firmer pressure to reassure Jessie that this is more than okay.

It doesn’t take long for hands and lips to begin to wander as they get more and more carried away.

“Can I?” Jessie tugs at the hem of Mal’s shirt. She’d been kissing Mal’s neck, but wants more access to the caramel skin of the girl below her.

“If you don’t, I will,” Mal encourages.

Jessie carefully (and too slowly for Mal’s taste) pulls Mal’s shirt up and over her head, marveling at how gorgeous Mal is for a few moments until she feels Mal’s hands slipping under her own shirt, warm hands skimming the skin of her stomach as Mal lifts the shirt inch by inch, eyes locked with Jessie’s. The Canadian nods her permission, allowing Mal to tug the shirt all the way off and toss it away somewhere in the room.

“I really like your abs,” Mal pants out softly, ghosting her fingertips across the muscles.

“Me too,” Jessie breaths. “Yours, I mean. Not mine. Although I guess mine are okay, too.”

“Jess,” Mal says.

“Yeah?”

“Just shut up and kiss me,” Mal giggles.

Jessie nods with a shy grin. “Right.”

She presses her lips against Mal’s once again, allowing the other girl to slip her tongue into her mouth, letting out a quiet moan at the sensation.

Both girls are so distracted at the new skin exposed to them, that they aren’t paying enough attention to hear the click of the door’s lock disengaging, or the quiet swoosh it makes as it swings open.

They do, however, hear the little squeak that is emitted from Christen, who had just walked in.

Jessie stares down at Mal with wide eyes, but Mal is too busy giving the same expression to Christen, who looks just as surprised as both the other girls.

“What is going on here?” Christen asks when she finds her voice, even though the scene in front of her is pretty self-explanatory.

“Um…” Mal swallows harshly, finally glancing at Jessie’s horrified expression.

Christen shakes her head. “This… Mal, _no_!”

Jessie squeezes her eyes shut tightly, feeling a deep panic set in all throughout her body. She isn’t sure she’s breathed in the thirty or so seconds Christen’s been in the room, but she can’t get her body to do anything about it.

Mal seems to sense the internal struggle. “Can you, like, give us a minute?” She asks Christen, shooting the older woman a sharp look.

It’s enough to get Christen to comply, but she narrows her eyes at Mal before turning around and all but stomping out of the room, letting the door close with a resounding ‘click’.

“Jess, baby, breath,” Mal instantly turns to her girlfriend, pressing her hands onto her cheeks.

“I-” Jessie struggles. “I can’t!”

“Shh,” Mal soothes. “Yes, you can. Do it with me, okay. Ready, inhale,” she takes a deep breath in, and does it a few more times until Jessie is able to do it on her own. “Good. That’s good, just like that.”

Once Jessie has her breathing under control, she slides off Mal’s lap, getting up in a scramble to collect their shirts before Christen decides they’re taking too long and comes back in.

“I’m sorry,” Mal mumbles. “She said she’d be out all day with Tobin.”

“It’s okay,” Jessie lies. “It’ll be fine, right?”

“Yeah,” Mal agrees, not sure if she’s trying to convince Jessie or herself. “Of course it will be.”

Jessie tosses a shirt at Mal, pulling her own over her head and back on. Mal follows suit, climbing out of bed and striding across the room to wrap Jessie in a tight hug.

It only lasts a few seconds, before Mal releases her, reaching out to entwine their hands instead. She tells herself it’s for Jessie’s benefit, but she needs the support just as much as she leads Jessie to the door to face her roommate.

Mal takes a deep breath, slowly letting it out as she swings the door open.

Christen is leaning against the wall across from the door, arms crossed and eyes narrowed. “You,” she directs her attention to Jessie first, and Mal feels the Canadian quiver under Christen’s sharp gaze, “need to go.”

Jessie doesn’t argue, terrified of what would happen if she did. She does, however, look towards Mal with sad eyes, but with a quick squeeze to her hand, she slips away down the hall towards the elevator, with only a final glance behind her (to see both Mal and Christen staring after her, with two vastly different expressions) before shuffling inside with a loud sigh.

“Inside, now,” Christen points at the still open door to their shared hotel room, and Mal complies, not wanting to have this argument in the hallway where any of their teammates could hear.

“Mallory! What were you thinking?!” Christen all but shouts.

“Stop yelling at me!” Mal snaps back. “I didn’t do anything wrong!”

Christen lets out an exasperated sigh. “You were about to!”

“Hey!” Mal practically growls. “Don’t be a bitch! I’m an adult, I can do whatever, and _who_ ever I want!”

“Not when it might adversely affect the team!” Christen says.

“You’re being such a hypocrite,” Mal scoffs. “You can screw Tobin the night before a game but play just fine against the Thorns the next day, but I can’t kiss my girlfriend after hardly seeing her all year? Just because _you_ think she’ll be a distraction on the field? When we play, in a _week_. Can you think before you speak? Because that’s ridiculous!”

“You’re dating her!?”

“Do you seriously think I would be hooking up with her if I wasn’t?” Mal asks, more hurt than angry that Christen, a woman who has been her idol and mentor, would think so little of her.

Christen shrugs. “I don’t know what to think anymore. God, Mal. This is a mess.”

“I don’t even get what your problem with this is,” Mal says. “But when you figure out a way to tell me without insulting me or my girlfriend, feel free to find me to apologize,” she stalks out of the room, breezing past Christen before the other woman can utter another word.

Mal finds herself in Lindsey and Kelley’s room, far angrier than she thought she’d be, but she just gets more and more heated as she continues to replay her and Christen’s conversation through her head.

“God, she’s such a bitch,” Mal grumbles.

Kelley and Lindsey, who had been waiting several minutes for Mal to stop pacing and actually tell them what got her so worked up, share a confused look.

“Who?” Kelley asks.

“Christen!” Mal says. “I can’t believe she thinks she can tell me who I can and can’t see! She’s not my mom!”

“You’re seeing someone?” Lindsey asks. “And you didn’t tell me?”

“Gah!” Mal exclaims. “No! Well… yes, but no one is supposed to know!”

“Take a couple deep breaths,” Kelley advises, “and maybe sit down,” she adds.

“Then tell us what’s going on,” Lindsey agrees.

Mal plops herself on the edge of Lindsey’s bed with a sigh. “God, she probably hates me.”

“Who?” Kelley questions. “Christen?”

“No,” Mal shakes her head, covering her face with her hands. “Jess- no one!”

“Jess?” Lindsey repeats. “Who’s Jess?”

Kelley’s eyes widen as she connects the pieces in her head. “Jess, as in Jessie Fleming?”

Mal lets out a strangled groan into her hands, nodding.

“Didn’t know you were into chicks,” Kelley chuckles to herself. “Explains why you were so awestruck during your first camp, I suppose.”

“That’s not why!” Mal shrieks, looking up. “It’s not.”

“I was joking, kid,” Kelley soothes.

“Fuck,” Mal sighs. “No one was supposed to find out. You guys can’t tell anyone.”

“Uh, little late for that?” Lindsey mumbles.

“What did you do?” Mal jumps up. “Lindsey!”

“Sorry!” The blonde mutters. “I wanted to know if Moe or Sonnett knew.”

“Oh god, you told them? The whole team is gonna know in like, ten minutes! Fuck!”

“Okay, cool it with the swearing,” Kelley says. “You’re still a kid and it’s weird to hear that from you.”

“But this is a disaster!”

Kelley chuckles.

“Don’t laugh at me! I have to go!” Mal says, ignoring the two others as they protest her second rushed exit of the afternoon.

Somehow she manages to dodge the rest of her teammates as she slips out of the hotel and fires off a quick text to Jessie, informing her that they need to talk.

They agree to meet at a café that’s close by, and ten minutes later, Mal is sitting across from her girlfriend in the corner booth of the dimly lit café.

“I’m so sorry,” is the first thing that Mal says when Jessie sits down.

“It’s okay,” Jessie tells her, much more certain about it than she was an hour ago. “Our teammates were bound to find out anyways. Maybe we can just try and make sure the rest of them don’t learn it by walking in on us…”

“That’s what I’m sorry about,” Mal mumbles. “I accidently told two of my teammates other than Christen, and one of them told another two, and by the time dinner comes around, my whole team will know.”

“Oh,” Jessie breaths. “ _Oh_. They aren’t going to like, plan to kill me on the field, right?”

Mal gulps. “No, of course not.”

“That wasn’t very convincing,” Jessie’s eyes widen. “Mal, I’m gonna die!”

“No!” Mal reaches out and latches her hand onto Jessie’s wrist. “Jess, I won’t let that happen, I promise.”

“Really?” Jessie asks in a small voice.

Mal smiles at Jessie’s worried expression, wanting so bad to lean across the table and kiss her worry away. Instead, she just clutches Jessie’s hand. “Yes. I always keep my promises.”

Jessie nods slowly. “Okay.”

“Just… maybe wait until after the games to tell your teammates? I don’t think they’d be as courteous. And I don’t wanna die either.”

“Okay, sure,” Jessie grins.

Mal’s phone pings, with a simple text from Christen proclaiming _I’m sorry_. “I should probably get back,” she sighs. “Time to face the music or whatever.”

“Do you want me to come with you?” Jessie asks. The last thing she wants to do is walk into a room full of the best players from the U.S. but she’d do it if Mal wanted her to.

“No, that would probably make it worse,” Mal shakes her head. “I’ll call you later, though?”

Jessie grins. “I’ll be waiting to hear from you.”

“Good. Don’t fall asleep on me this time, Fleming,” Mal narrows her eyes, but the grin on her face gives away her teasing nature.

“No promises, Pugh.”

“Alright,” Mal sighs. “I should probably really leave though. I can’t kiss you, but I will remind you of earlier so you can remember the feeling of my lips.”

Jessie blushes. “Bye, Mal.”

“Bye, Jess,” Mal holds her hand for as long as she can, until distance forces her to let go. She turns back when she reaches the door of the café and sends on final smile back to her girlfriend before exiting.

Not much time passes before Mal walks into the hotel and makes her way to the conference room where she knows dinner started at least fifteen minutes ago.

She keeps her gaze to the floor as silence encompasses the room upon her entrance, heading straight to the table lined with food, not that she actually feels like eating anything.

Mal can only busy herself carefully selecting her food for a short amount of time before she has to look up to find a table to sit at. Some of the girls have looked away, but a good amount of them are staring at her and whispering.

Christen is looking at her with sad, apologetic eyes, completely ignoring Tobin, who’s next to her clearly trying to explain something. When Christen catches Mal’s gaze, she gestures hopefully at the empty seat across from her.

Mal glances across the room at the table with her friends where she usually sits, all clearly gossiping and waiting for her to join them and explain herself. Instead, she turns to where several of the more mature up players sit, on the other side of the room, and she slowly walks over and takes the seat that Christen probably saved for her.

“I’m sorry,” Christen murmurs. “I was a bitch, you were right. I just don’t want to see you get hurt.”

“She’s not gonna hurt me,” Mal says. She hesitates a moment before speaking in an even quieter tone. “I think I love her.”

Christen grins. “I’m happy as long as you are.”

“I am,” Mal confirms.

“Good.”

Mal just nods, turning to her food.

“So,” Ashlyn speaks up from next to Tobin. “You just had to pick a Canadian, huh?”

Mal blushes.

“Ash!” Ali scolds. “Leave her alone!”

“Better than a teammate, I guess,” Tobin adds. “We can’t really kill our own friends.”

“ _Tobin_ ,” Christen warns.

Mal’s eyes widen for the thousandth time that day. “You guys can’t go after her! I promised her you wouldn’t target her!”

“They’re joking,” Alyssa soothes from next to her. “Right guys?”

Tobin shrugs, but Christen’s sharp glare prompts her to agree. “Yeah. Just joking.”

“Mmm,” Ashlyn confirms when Ali elbows her in the ribs, followed by a hissed “ow, woman!”

“We’re happy for you,” Becky chimes in. “But she is Canadian, so we’re gonna go hard. No more than any of the others, though. Just a warning.”

Mal nods. “I know. But don’t try and kill her or anything?”

“You don’t have to worry about us,” Ali says. “The others,” she gestures to the rowdy group across the room. “Might be a different story.”

Mal nods with a sigh. “I guess I’ll have to talk to them eventually.”

She doesn’t, not that night, anyways, because right after dinner she and Christen, along with Tobin head up to Mal and Christen’s room.

The couple ends up cuddled on Christen’s bed, while Mal texts Jessie, asking the other girl to call her whenever she can.

The phone in her hand begins vibrating nearly instantly, and Mal rushes outside onto the balcony to answer it. “Hey, baby.”

 _“Hi,”_ Jessie greets. _“Did everything go okay?”_

“Yeah,” Mal says. “Mostly, anyways. I still have to talk to some of the girls. But I think everything with be fine.”

 _“Good,”_ Jessie hums _. “I have the afternoon after travel day off. If you can slip away, maybe we can grab dinner?”_

“I’d like that,” Mal agrees. “I think I might be able to dip out of the team dinner.”

 _“I hope you get to play,”_ Jessie admits _. “But you can’t score, okay?”_

“No promises,” Mal giggles. “I know you’ll get to play.”

 _“Maybe,”_ Jessie says, and Mal can visualize her shrug.

“I should probably go. Lights out is soon, and if I don’t kick Tobin out, Christen won’t, and then we’ll all get in trouble.”

Jessie laughs, and Mal grins at what has slowly became one of her favorite sounds. _“Okay, baby. Text me or call me tomorrow if you can?”_

“I’ll make time,” Mal promises. “I-” she stops herself before she lets those three words slip out. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

_“Goodnight.”_

“Night, Jess.”

Mal makes her way back inside, and surprisingly, Tobin is already gone. When she questions Christen on it, the other woman just shrugs.

“I think you’ve had a pretty eventful day and could use some rest.”

Mal blushes a little, knowing Christen is referring mostly to what she walked in on earlier in the day. “Sorry about earlier.”

“It’s fine. What’s that saying? All’s fair in love and football?” Christen grins.

“I don’t quite think that’s how the saying goes,” Mal laughs.

Christen shrugs again, and Mal feels herself starting to believe that everything might actually be okay. No one seemed upset (after Christen’s initial freak out, anyways) and she might be falling in love, and they’re totally gonna kick Canada’s ass in these two games. Yeah, life seems pretty good right now.


End file.
